I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.
A true shepherd hazards his own life when the wolf comes and does not flee the flock. Christ's willingness to lay down His life means He will not forsake those entrusted to Him, but expose Himself to danger to defend them unto death.
AI summary
The Pharisees claimed to be the church's true pastors and treated Christ as an intruder with no commission from them. But His doubled amen, Amen, amen, stamps this teaching with absolute weight: whoever does not enter by the gate but climbs another way is a thief and robber, bent on mischief and damage to the flock.
AI summary
Commenting on John 10:1-18
Christ alone is the good shepherd in this sense, as the prophets foretold. Though human shepherds have risked their lives against lion and bear, and faithful pastors have faced persecution, here it points unmistakably to Christ's willing surrender of His own life to save His sheep from destruction.
AI summary